Social Media Leads to Opportunity…

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I don’t care if you are a business owner or the intern – you must be using social media to promote yourself, your company and your services.

My clients constantly ask if I really get anything out of (insert platform here) or

Is social media worth the time and effort??

Of course it is!

I know you want to hear about conversion rate, lead count and ROI –

So I’m not going to tell you how much fun it is to grow your network and help people.

Or that the “media” could feature your work and your expertise in an article…

Could that lead to more sales – you bet!

But that’s not good enough – you want the metrics…

You want to know how many Likes – will turn into sales or how many followers can convert to leads…

It doesn’t work like that – and if you get caught up in the numbers you will make yourself crazy.

Using social media correctly will lead to opportunities that you never thought existed –

Here are 2 of the many opportunities that came out of me showing up every night –

  1. I was invited to visit one of the largest manufacturers in our industry.  I spent two days meeting their team and touring the facility.  I’m not sure if I’m going to supply them, but I’m closer today than I was yesterday.
  2. A company started using my sliding doors because over the course of two weeks I sent them a handful of leads that I received from Houzz.  Fast forward one year later and the doors are a feature in their showroom.

I know you’re crazy right now – and hustling to get it all done before the end of the year…

Start planning how you will show up on social media and how you will use it to your advantage…

Your competitor probably is.

I help business succeed.  If I can be of any assistance please feel free to contact me at richdemarco@optonline.net

Before you hire that Social Media Expert…

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I’m very happy to report that the last couple of weeks I have been asked about hiring a marketing/social media manager.

Why am I happy?

Well people must be comfortable with the economy which is awesome – And

Our industry is finally starting to realize the importance of social media…

All of the conversations went the same way –

So you guessed it – time for a blog post…

The most important thing to consider when hiring someone is –

Do they understand the “voice” of your company? 

You wouldn’t let your designer go out without an extensive training program…

How can you consider letting someone create your online persona without knowing anything about you, your company or your industry…

If they are not willing to learn who you are – than you may want to reconsider….

What can you expect and what is possible?

Yes of course we all want increased sales…

No matter how good your social media marketing is I can almost guarantee you will not see an increase in sales, the first day, week and probably not the first month…

This is a long-term commitment and you should be measuring shares, re-tweets, pins and overall community engagement…

Run from anyone that promises to add 10,000 followers over night…

They don’t understand the first thing about social media and chances are most of the followers aren’t real people.

You should be looking for quality not quantity…

This last tip may seem like common sense, forgive me if you have the urge to say Duh…

What is their on line presence like?

How do they interact with their community?

Follow them for a week or two – and go beyond the numbers…

Do they have any fans?  Yes – great!

How are they interacting with them?

I help companies succeed.  If I can be of any assistance please feel free to contact me at richdemarco@optonline.net

It’s All About Being REAL…

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When you take a look at some of the most successful people on TV – Who comes to mind?

Oprah

Ellen

Dr. Phil

No I’m not home all day watching TV…  I love my DVR!!

Back to my point – these people are all REAL!

That’s why they are successful – they don’t hide who they are, they don’t put on an act, and are full of emotion – good and bad.

Their fans love them for that.

When it comes to sales, networking or social media – the same applies.

I don’t try to hide my Brooklyn accent or stop speaking with my hands…  Will that offend some?  Maybe…

I think more will appreciate that I am genuine than if I pronounce the “R’s” at the end of my words…

Success at anything doesn’t come easy… It’s a lot harder if you’re not REAL…

Fughettaboutit!

I help people succeed.  If I can be of any assistance please feel free to contact me at richdemarco@optonline.net

Twitter Does Work – I’ll Prove It…

I’ve had a lot of success with Twitter.  I love this platform because it’s so easy to engage potential customers…

Here is a screen shot of a conversation that I had last week with an interior-decorating firm in Chicago.

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Click on Image to Read the Conversation.

This Twitter conversation lasted maybe 10 minutes… Did I make a penny from it – no… Did I just create a raving fan – You Bet!!

Space Design does residential and commercial projects and has been in business since 1970 –

Do you think they have a few contacts??

Is it possible they recommend me for hardware on a future project?? Maybe…

Whether they do or they don’t is not important –

What’s important is Space Design considered me a resource and hopefully their 250 followers will too… Do you see how Twitter takes “word of mouth” to the next level?

Want another example?

I spent 2 minutes searching “organizing my closet” This is what I found –

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Click to Enlarge.

If this isn’t a possible customer I don’t know what is??

My search found 3 more potential customers –

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Click to Enlarge

To keep things in perspective this is a national search – you might only find one lead per day in your local market :0)

If this isn’t proof that you might want to add Twitter to your marketing mix, than I don’t know what is…

I would like to mention that I ripped off the idea for this post from the Great Gary Vaynerchuck… He recently did this with real estate agents – Here’s a link to his post.

I help individuals and organizations to be successful… If you have any questions about social media or hardware please contact me at 347-723-7433 or email me at richdemarco@optonline.net

Are you having this problem??

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This week many of my clients kept asking the same question – and it had nothing to do with hardware or social media – At least not directly…

Do I know anyone that’s looking for a job??

Over the last 9 months there has been a solid uptick in business.

If you’re like most you have been paying employees over time and pushing them as hard as they can go…

That can only last so long… it leads to burn out and unhappy employees…

With our “busy” time right around the corner, now is the time to get things in place for fall…

Even though most have made it through the downturn by adding machinery, they still need good people…

It seems like finding quality employees is one of the biggest challenges our industry faces…

Is it a Northeast thing??

I know I’m supposed to solve your problems, not give you new ones…

What’s the answer??  Well maybe being involved with social media can help?

Maybe you can save some time during the interview process by researching your candidates on LinkedIn…

Can’t find them on LinkedIn try Googling them…   You might be surprised at what you find.

Potential employees not responding to your ads??

Try posting in groups where your potential candidates might be hanging out – by the way these posts are free…

I’m not saying this is going to change your life but it’s another way that you can leverage social media…

Are you already doing this?

Have you had success?

If you’re in the North Carolina area, Stiles is having a complimentary manufacturing solutions seminar – this could be another answer to your employee troubles…  Click here for more info.

As always if I can be of any assistance please feel free to contact me at richdemarco@optonline.net